Manually operable mortar spreader for brick layers

ABSTRACT

A manually operable mortar spreader for laying bricks or blocks, having a housing with an open top hopper with a movable rectangular bottom, front, side and rear walls, the side walls fitting over a base on which the bricks are to be laid, having at least one vertical downward extension, a handle attached to the front or rear wall of the hopper for manually and slidingly transporting the hopper over the base; a mortar dispensing gate between the rear end of the bottom and the bottom of the adjacent wall; and means to control the mortar height of the dispensing gate over the base to control the thickness of the mortar left over the base in the wake of the sliding transportation movement of the hopper. The movable bottom is provided with another handle. The means to control the gate are provided either by vertically sliding the rear wall itself or a gate attachment thereof relative to the base to be laid; while simultaneously means are provided to pull the bottom itself away from the housing, leaving the bottom of the housing open, and permitting the mortar in the hopper to rest and to press on the base to be laid. In a second embodiment, the bottom of the hopper is partly masked to prevent the mortar from filling the hollow centers of the bricks or blocks. Optionally, a manually operated poker bar is provided to permit pushing mortar between the crevice of adjoining bricks. Optionally means are provided to produce the layer of mortar at an angle to horizontal in the longitudinal direction of travel of the spreader. Optionally, means are provided to exchange filled and empty spreaders between a helper who fills it and the operator at a distance and possibly operating at different levels.

United States Patent [191 Orthman 1 MANUALLY OPERABLE MORTAR SPREADER FOR BRICK LAYERS [76] Inventor: William Herman Orthman, PO. Box 45, I-loldrege, Nebr. 68949 [22] Filed: Oct. 1, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 185,737

Primary Examiner-Lawrence Charles Atlorney-0tto John Munz [57] ABSTRACT A manually operable mortar spreader for laying bricks or blocks, having a housing with an open top hopper with a movable rectangular bottom, front, side and rear walls, the side walls fitting over a base on which the bricks are to be laid, having at least one vertical BASE [4 Oct. 9, 1973 downward extension, a handle attached to the front or rear wall of the hopper for manually and slidingly transporting the hopper over the base; a mortar dispensing gate between the rear end of the bottom and the bottom of the adjacent wall; and means to control the mortar height of the dispensing gate over the base to control the thickness of the mortar left over the base in the wake of the sliding transportation movement of the hopper. The movable bottom is provided with another handle. The means to control the gate are provided either by vertically sliding the rear wall itself or a gate attachment thereof relative to the base to be laid; while simultaneously means are provided to pull the bottom itself away from the housing, leaving the bottom of the housing open, and permitting the mortar in the hopper to rest and to press on the base to be laid. In a second embodiment, the bottom of the hopper is partly masked to prevent the mortar from filling the hollow centers of the bricks or blocks.

Optionally, a manually operated poker bar is provided to permit pushing mortar between the crevice of adjoining bricks. Optionally means are provided to produce the layer of mortar at an angle to horizontal in the longitudinal direction of travel of the spreader. Optionally, means are provided to exchange filled and empty spreaders between a helper who fills it and the operator at a distance and possibly operating at different levels.

6 Claims, 15 Drawing Figures PATENTEB um 9192a SHEET 2 BF 5 INVENTOR WILLIAM H. ORTHMAN BY W! ATTORN PATENTED 9 73 SHEET 3 OF 5 INVENTOR:

WILLIAM H. ORTHMAN BY W W ATTOR :Y

PATENTED 75 SHEET b [1F 5 &

ATTORNEY INVENTOR:

PAIEN-IED 9W 3. 764.222

sum 5 or 5 I MORTAR SPREADER BOX l I BOX BASE ENGAGING MEANS I IBOX HANDLE MEANS FOR MANUAL BOX TRANSPORTATION OVER THE BASE] IMOvABLE BOTTOM TRAY :E BO'TIONFEBO NTWAILL FPENITJG" IMEANS TO MOVE SAID TRAY RELATIVE SAID {OPENING OF THE BOTTOM FRONT WALL MEANS TO CLOSE THE FRONT WALL BOTTOM IOPENING ON REMOVAL OF BOTTOM TRAY A Q A E E 11L A BY MO VAB LE FRONT WALL is. a

MAEQ J PY.

AWIQ AH APPI REAR WALL BOTTOM OPENING TO CONTROL THE MORTAR FLOW THERETHROUGH BY MOVABLE REAR GATE,

BY A MOVABLE REAR WALL HORIZONTALLY 0c ANQULABLY T LINKAGE MEANS BETWEEN BOX HANDLE MEANS AND MORTAR FLOW LIMITING MEANS FOR POSITIONS:

NORMAL OPENING I l l I l 1 INCREASED OPENING "MEA'NS TO' FACILITATE EXCHANGE FILLED AND EMPTY! BOXES BETWEEN MORTAR SPREADER OPERATOR AND r INVENTOR.

WILLIAM H. ORTHMAN BY MANUALLY OPERABLE MORTAR SPREADER FOR BRICK LAYERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention deals with a manually movable mortar spreader having a box with a movable bottom and a variably operable dispenser gate.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART The prior art is represented by US Pat. Nos. 1,780,902, issued Nov. II, 1930 to R. T. Ainslie and 2,341,691, issued Feb. I5, 1944 to H. J. Ciceske.

The inventions there described were not adopted because they are inefficient and impractical. The mortar laid by these devices because of the high consistency required does not form an even continuous uninterrupted layer and does not fill in properly the crevices between the bricks.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Referring now to the drawings in which the common parts not specifically depicted in the various figures and not specifically described hereinafter, remain unchanged:

FIG. I is a longitudinal cross-section of a spreader of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are front and rear views respectively of the spreader depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 showing a preferred embodiment of the means to control the discharge orifice;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the spreader of FIGS. 1 to 4, also showing additional details;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the spreader of FIGS. I to 5 including various optional embodiments in engagement with a row of bricks, as it is handled by an operator;

FIG. 7 shows optional details specific to an alternative embodiment to the means to control the discharge orifice of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the means to control the discharge shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a rear side view on line 99 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an agitator attachment to the spreader;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view with parts removed of a swivel arrangement on the spreader mating with a detachable fork attachment thereto;

FIG. 12 is rear end view of an optional improvement on the embodiments on either FIGS. 1, 7 or 8;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view demonstrating an additional utility of the spreader of the invention;

FIG. 14 is a fractional view of an optional insert into the spreader; and

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram of the various means disclosed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the drawings, like reference numerals depict same or equivalent parts. There is shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 an embodiment of the invention, depicting a mortar box 13, having a base, formed by parallel side walls 14 and 15 to which support means and transport means of said box are attached below its bottom level. An example of such means is shown as a pair of L-shaped parallel rails 40, with the side walls preferably extending below them. The horizontal legs 41 of the L-shaped rails serve as support means of the box on the base for the row of bricks already laid. While the box preferably is of a rectangular shape, it is not limited thereto. A pot-, funnel-, or hopper-shaped box, f.i., a substitution of wheels or rollers for the support and transport means shown, also come within the scope of the invention.

The base for the row of bricks to be laid usually is the preceding row of bricks, already laid, as shown in FIG. 6. In order to align the box with such a base, the side walls normally extend below the L supports downwardly to hug the preceding row of bricks.

When the base, however, is the concrete foundation for the first row of bricks to be laid, the bottom ends of the vertical extensions of the side walls themselves function as the support means for the box, because normally the foundation is at least slightly wider than the width of the bricks.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, there is provided a bottom tray 21, having a thickness permitting the sliding accomodation between the two' L- shaped rails, as shown in detail in FIG. 5. tray handle 22 is attached to the bottom tray for pulling it out partially or totally to permit the mortar in the box to press by gravity upon the base over which the box travels.

The front wall 17 and rear wall 19 of the box are each shown spaced vertically above the bottom level of the side walls, each leaving an orifice between it and the base. Means to close the bottom horizontal orifice in the front wall, when the bottom tray is pulled out are provided as shown in FIG. 3 by a front gate 16. The front gate is provided with two vertical slots 16a and attached to the front wall for a vertical adjustment by means such as a pair of bolts 16b. Other means permitting quick adjustments may be substituted.

The front gate is preferably provided also with a lip protruding forwardly to ride on the base during the mortar spreading. A box handle 18 for pulling out, or pushing in, the box is provided. As shown in FIG. 1, the handle is secured to the side walls by means of a U- shaped bracket 23 and screws 25. The box handle may be attached directly to the front wall instead. A second box handle may be attached to the rear wall for easier handling of the spreader.

The rear wall is provided with a rear gate 31, controllably adjustable vertically, such as by two threaded pins 33, which engage two vertical corresponding slots 29 of the rear gate and are secured by wing nuts 25. The function of the rear gate is to control the thickness of the mortar layer left behind, by pushing excess mortar within the box, while the box is pulled forwardly and keeping the remaining mortar in it. Thus, the rear gate serves as a limiting means for the outflow of the mortar. The rear gate preferably has a lip projecting rearwardly to smooth the surface of the layer of the mortar spread behind for the subsequent brick laying operation.

One or more alignment members 27 are provided, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, attached to one or both side walls. These alignment members are to maintain the box vertically aligned with the previously laid portion of the brick wall.

These alignment members simultaneously function as scrapers for the mortar eventually overflowing on the base to be laid from the prior row distribution.

Optionally, horizontal and vertical levels 270 are attached to the box, as shown on FIG. 5.

Means are provided optionally to facilitate a quick and easy exchange of full and emptied boxes between the operator and his helper, who fills them. The boxes are often exchanged from various levels and/or over distance in excess of reach. In order to facilitate this exchange and simultaneously to avoid spillage of filled boxes, an elongated handle bar 38 is provided therefor, with an end attachment to grasp the box and to separate therefrom on its delivery, including a shovel. (Parts 30 to 38.)

As an example, the box has attached thereto a pair of swivel pins 30, as shown in FIG. 6, which mate with a grasping hook or a cradle 40 attached to the end of the handle bar. To avoid spillage, the grasping means are developed to maintain the box in the horizontal position while handing it over to the operator. For this purpose, the grasping means are linked to the handle for instance by a universal joint.

Another method of keeping the mortar from spilling, f.i. is to provide the handle with a removable top cover having U-shaped rims with correspondingly mating rims of the top of the side walls, so that the cover may he slid over the box, simultaneously covering it and attaching it to the handle for transportation.

Thus, in the same time it takes the prior art bricklayer to pick up and spread one trowel full of mortar, in one exchange operation the operator is handed over and spreads a full box of mortar, containing approximately times the amount of mortar on a bricklayers trowel. Since the box during the spreading operation is supported by the base, the operator spends less energy in pulling it over the base, than the old school bricklayer must exercise to continuously pick up, deposit on his tray, and dispense with his trowel enough mortar to cover a single brick.

While the box handle and the bottom tray handle are shown in FIG. 6 both mounted to the front, either or both of them may be mounted for a push operation, instead of the pull operation shown, or for a left-handed operator, on the rear wall without departing from the scope of the invention.

When the bottom tray is removed in accordance with the showing of FIGS. 4 and 5, the weight of the mortar pushes a portion thereof into the crevices between the bricks. This does not, however, completely fill the crevices. In the prior art each brick, before being laid, is provided on a short side with a layer of mortar by trowel. Similarly, thereto, however, economically and avoiding waste of time and effort, in accordance with the present invention, the whole row of the bricks, before being laid, is first stacked up vertically, as shown in FIG. 13 and the box is employed to provide a layer for every brick simultaneously on a short side of each brick, before it is turned 90 for horizontal laying.

In order to provide an apparatus which permits a greater automation, the improvement shown in FIG. 7 is employed.

Here, the rear gate 51 is provided with means to make it vertically movable into three limited positions, an upper, a central and a lower. Two Two symmetrically opposed slotted members 53 are provided, also a U-shaped actuating lever 57, having legs 59, one on each side, at the ends of which are pins 63, projecting through arcuate slots 65, respectively, in the side walls of the box.

The actuating lever 57 is pivoted on the side walls at 69 and 71 respectively, and is operated within the three positions mentioned, by the handle 18 as it moves up and down. When the handle is moved up into the C position, its linkage with the rear gate closes it downwardly, pushing mortar with the poker bar 75 into the crevice between two adjacent bricks.

In the neutral A position, the gate is raised and the mortar is spread into a layer of normal thickness, in the same manner as shown in FIG. 1. In the B position, the orifice is enlarged, permitting an increased flow of mortar, which is required to prefill the bottom of the crevice between two bricks of the next row. Thus, the operator, as he pulls the box by the box handle in neutral position, aligns visually the dispensing orifice thereof with the crevice in the row beneath, and as soon as the orifice passes over the crevice, he pushes the handle, first downwardly admitting excess mortar and then upwardly, thus pushing the poker bar with the excess mortar into the crevice. In the C" step of the continuous operation, the operator lifts the handle into neutral position, while continuing pulling it and dispensing mortar. As he reaches the next adjoining critical point of the future crevice between bricks to be laid in the wake of dispensing, he pushes the handle down, the orifice enlarges, and dispenses an excess amount of mortar sufficient to at least partly fill the future crevice from the bottom up. Thereafter, the handle is lifted again into the neutral position and from there upward and downward, continuously repeating the process and distributing the mortar in three steps of an excess of mortar simultaneously pushed between two bricks, already laid; of a layer of mortar of normal thickness on an in termediate portion of the brick and of another layer of excess mortar at a point of the expected crevice between two bricks to be laid immediately thereafter.

After a short practice, the eyes, hands and mind of the operator correlate and synchronize and he functions easily automatically and speedily without undue efforts, by far exceeding the output of the bricklayer employing the prior art.

For laying brick, f.i. on window sills at an angle from horizontal to deflect rain water, the rear gate is provided with means to shift it at an angle. For this purpose, the rear gate 77, shown in FIG. 12, is provided with an arcuate slot 79 and a vertical slot 83, and is pivotably attached to the rear wall 19 by a bolt 81 and a wing nut 85.

The inventor discovered that the high consistency of the mortar required for brick laying and its slow flow and settling require specific means to provide the uninterrupted even layer including a full filling of the vertical crevices.

In order to provide for this, two independent means are provided as an example, either of which, but preferably both in combination, serve the purpose.

The inventor discovered that a substantially increased pressure upon the mortar at its area of outflow remedies the deficiencies of the prior art. Therefore, based on the conventional viscosity of the mortar, the height of the container preferably should be at least four times the height of the brick or block to be laid in order to fill the crevice between the two of them by the pressure of the overlaying mortar. The weight of mortar on ordinary brick trowels conventionally used for laying bricks, of a length of about 8 inches to 10 inches holds between I to 2 pounds of mortar.

The size of the box is limited only by the maximum weight of the filled box which is desirable for easy handling thereof. Because the filled box, except for the brief period of positioning it by the helper upon the base, is supported by the base itself, the size of the box and the weight of it easily may be at least four times to eight times the size of the brick when filled and still may be easily handled when the weight of the box is plus-minus pounds.

Thus, for at least one half of the operation, the mortar remaining in the box exerts sufficient gravitational pressure at the discharge area to press and compact the mortar between the crevices and into a continuous layer.

To continue the compacting, an agitator attachment is provided as shown in FIG. 10.

When the tray handle is arranged to pull out rearwardly, in accordance with FIG. 5, the front bottom wall orifice becomes unnecessary.

The attachment is provided for agitating the mortar during spreading thereof to insure a full coverage of the base and penetration into the crevices between the bricks. An agitator handle 60 mounted vertically pro truding downwardly through a bracket 62 is provided with an agitating plate 64 for reciprocating movements below the bracket between the side walls 14 and 15 of the spreader. A compression spring 66, to return the handle after each depression thereof, surrounds the shaft of the handle. The bracket is provided with a cylindrical extension 69 functioning as the upper limit stop means for the plate. The attachment is arranged to be set removably over the side wall of the box. While one bracket has been shown, a plurality of them is within the scope of the invention.

An attachment suitable for avoiding the spreading of mortar into the central holes in the bricks or blocks, which are often provided in them, is shown in FIG. 14. A masking plate 72 having a triangular cross section and provided with horizontal spacing bars, not shown, is inserted between the walls 14 and 15, to cover up the holes in the bricks, thus forcing the mortar to slide to the sides only.

When the tray is totally removed as shown in FIG. 6, means are optionally provided in substitution of those in FIG. 3 to close the front gate 16 automatically, f.i., by springs mounted to the pins 16b and forcing the gate downwardly. For reinsertion of the tray, the front gate is manually lifted by its lip 16.

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram of the various means of the apparatus, boxes in the uninterrupted lines indicating the essential means; the boxes in dash lines indicating alternatives; and the boxes in dotted lines indicating optionals.

Thus, in accordance with the invention, simultaneously means are provided for vertical and angular adjustments of the rear gate. The various means are shown here only for purposes of providing an operable example of the invention in their simplest practical embodiments and various equivalents and improvements thereof will become obvious to those skilled in the art, which have been omitted here, for purposes of brevity only.

I claim:

1. A mortar spreader for spreading mortar upon a base such as a row of bricks or blocks or a concrete foundation for such comprising:

a mortar spreader box with side walls;

a base engaging means in the bottom of said box integral therewith for its support and transportation; box handle means for manual box transportation, the

bottom in said box being a movable tray;

a bottom wall front opening for passing the tray therethrough; said side walls of said box comprising each a bottom edge spaced above said base parallel therewith and a horizontal leg for support of said movable tray;

means to close said bottom wall opening on removal of said tray;

a rear wall bottom opening means to control the size of said rear wall bottom opening to adjust the mortar flow therethrough; and

linkage means between said box handle means and said means to control the size of the said rear wall bottom opening.

2. A plurality of mortar spreaders as claimed in claim 1 to be employed simultaneously in the mortar spread ing operation, one by an operator filling an empty said mortar spreader box, and passing the filled box to a mason for said spreading, and another one to be returned emptied by the mason to the operator, further comprising:

handle means including an extension to grasp, de-

posit and remove said mortar spreader box;

said box including in its side walls means disengagingly mating with said extension in said handle to facilitate exchange of filled and empty boxes be tween the mortar spreader operator and the box filling operator.

3. A mortar spreader as in claim I, said bottom front wall opening including a gate and means to move it into a closing position on removal of said tray therethrough.

4. A mortar spreader as in claim 1, said means to control said rear wall opening including an adjustably mounted rear wall gate thereon.

5. A mortar spreader as in claim 1, and mortar flow bottom masking means.

6. A mortar spreader as in claim 1, said linkage means between said box and said means to control the size of the rear wall bottom opening including means to do so in three positions: a normal position, limiting the mortar flow to a predetermined thickness; an increased mortar flow position and a mortar downwardly pushing position for filling crevices between adjoining bricks with mortar. 

1. A mortar spreader for spreading mortar upon a base such as a row of bricks or blocks or a concrete foundation for such comprising: a mortar spreader box with side walls; a base engaging means in the bottom of said box integral therewith for its support and transportation; box handle means for manual box transportation, the bottom in said box being a movable tray; a bottom wall front opening for passing the tray therethrough; said side walls of said box comprising each a bottom edge spaced above said base parallel therewith and a horizontal leg for support of said movable tray; means to close said bottom wall opening on removal of said tray; a rear wall bottom opening means to control the size of said rear wall bottom opening to adjust the mortar flow therethrough; and linkage means between said box handle means and said means to control the size of the said rear wall bottom opening.
 2. A plurality of mortar spreaders as claimed in claim 1 to be employed simultaneously in the mortar spreading operation, one by an operator filling an empty said mortar spreader box, and passing the filled box to a mason for said spreading, and another one to be returned emptied by the mason to the operator, further comprising: handle means including an extension to grasp, deposit and remove said mortaR spreader box; said box including in its side walls means disengagingly mating with said extension in said handle to facilitate exchange of filled and empty boxes between the mortar spreader operator and the box filling operator.
 3. A mortar spreader as in claim 1, said bottom front wall opening including a gate and means to move it into a closing position on removal of said tray therethrough.
 4. A mortar spreader as in claim 1, said means to control said rear wall opening including an adjustably mounted rear wall gate thereon.
 5. A mortar spreader as in claim 1, and mortar flow bottom masking means.
 6. A mortar spreader as in claim 1, said linkage means between said box and said means to control the size of the rear wall bottom opening including means to do so in three positions: a normal position, limiting the mortar flow to a predetermined thickness; an increased mortar flow position and a mortar downwardly pushing position for filling crevices between adjoining bricks with mortar. 